Totally Tubular

We had a short stopover in London for 2 days and 3 nights before heading on to Italy. I have been to London a few years ago, but Mike had only been to the airport. We knew it would be a busy few days to try and pack in the sights!

A few noticeable changes after our time in Iceland was that it was dark when we arrived at the hostel at 10pm, we wore shorts, and the huge crowds of tourists everywhere! It was a good warm-up to what I am sure we are going to experience in Rome in a few days.

Our first destination was Buckingham Palace to observe the changing of the guards ceremony. We arrived at 10:30 and I was expecting to have some time to explore around the gardens, but the crowds were already lined up at the fence. So, Mike and I staked out a spot near the center of the palace and one row of people back. We chatted with our neighbors while we waited an hour for it to get started in the warm sunshine. The ceremony was really interesting to watch. My favorites were hearing the band play the James Bond theme song (Quite a surprise after the more traditional marches) and watching the soldiers get in perfect alignment back taking little shuffle hops.

By the end of the 30 minute ceremony, we needed a beer and lunch! Our friend, Coach Goddard, made a recommendation of going to Prince Albert’s pub, so we headed over there for lunch. The beer, London Pride, was good and we shared a meat pie sampler with a huge side of mashed potatoes and gravy.

 

After lunch, we hopped on the tube to head to the Tower of London where we stayed for four hours exploring the sites. I really wanted to do the Beefeators tour, but the guide was very hard to hear and understand, so we ditched the group and explored on our own. We later caught up with another group with a much easier to understand guide and listened in while he talked about the executions that occurred on the scaffold within the tower including Anne Boylen’s! I am quite fascinated with the Tudors, so I found this part really interesting.

We also checked out the King’s armor displays which were quite impressive. They were intricately detailed and looked very heavy! I think this was Mike’s favorite part of the Tower. My favorite part was looking at the crown jewels. The crowns are so beautiful and the jewels are so huge!! The diamond in the septer was 500 carats!

 

We did a quick walk over Tower Bridge and afterwards we needed a pick-me-up, so we stopped at Starbucks who have quite the system going in London. Outside each major tourist site there is a Starbucks located right across the street and sometimes many of them surrounding the site! Very smart, since many of the tourists are American and/or need coffee to keep up with this site-seeing madness! We enjoyed our iced coffee both days.

 

In the evening we explored Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Soho. We found a little pub to eat dinner at and Mike got his fish and chips and I ate my first bangers and mash. It was actually really good! Back to the hostel to do a little laundry and we reduced our cycle time by 4 hours! It only took 2 hours, but cost us $10 for one load!

Day 2 in London was just as busy as Day 1. We have really been utilizing the tube which is super easy to use and very convenient to get to and from each site. It is also a great place to observe the locals. Mike insists that some of the English women look like hens while they are talking because their heads bob up and down so much. His interpretation is quite hilarious and I have made him do it many times to make me laugh.

The first site of the day was Big Ben and the Parliament building. Big Ben is impressive and the exterior of the Parliament building so beautiful. I think this might have been the most beautiful building from the outside that we saw during our trip to London.

Next stop was Westminster Abbey and we took advantage of the free audio tour that we could do at our own pace. This was great and really helped give us a better understanding of English history and appreciation for the Abbey. Our favorite highlights were the beautiful ceilings, the high alter and seeing the tombs of the Kings and Queens. Mike also really enjoyed the Poet’s corner which has some famous English writers buried there including Chaucer and memorials to others. I was amazed at the intricacy of the architecture throughout the church and impressed that they built something so beautiful so long ago!

We stopped by St. Paul’s, but they charged quite a bit for the entrance fee, so we observed from the outside and got a peak at the nave. It is huge and grand. I was most impressed by the main doors (25’ tall) into the church which were the original wood doors from 300 years ago.

 

After an iced coffee, we had enough energy to make our way over to the British Museum with a free entry. We didn’t have anything in particular that we wanted to see so we just wandered through a few of the exhibits. It was an impressive place and we saw some artifacts that were 4000 years old.

To finish the day, we took a quick tour of Harrods, walked through Knightsbridge neighborhood and Hyde Park. We must have been in the plush part of town because we saw many fancy cars just parked on the streets: Old Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Massorati, and Mercedes. The Audi looked like the cheap car on the block!

Overall, London was a whirlwind of sightseeing and riding the tube. I enjoyed our visit very much, but I would like to come back to actually spend some more time in London and also to explore the country.

**We got to Rome last night and have not had a chance to upload our London Pictures  We are off to go see the Colosseum this morning to try and beat the crowds, so I will add them tonight while enjoying a bottle of wine in our very own room (We are staying in a B&B and it is a pure luxury!!)  Mike says it really is our honeymoon:)